Exhibition device



April 28, 1942. I R CONNOR 2,281,024

EXHIBITION DEVICE Filed Feb. 12, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet I J 1 i II --|||m|---.. I j g a 20 20? r20 I5 I V 6 i l i 22 I INYENTOR James ff Connor ATTORN EYS Patented Apr. 28, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE EXHIBITION DEVICE James R. Connor, New York, N. Y.

Application February 12, 1940, Serial No. 318,421

11 Claims.

This invention relatesto the realistic exhibition of samplesof floor and wall coverings. The primary object of the invention is to provide a device for facilitating theexhibition in miniature of floor and wall covering samples in the relation which they would hear to one another in an actual room.

It is an important feature of the invention that miniature furniture representing the furnishings of the room is entirely supported from a baseboard frame so that selected floor and wall covering samples can be inserted and withdrawn without disturbing the furniture.

A further feature of the invention has to do with the provision of means for mechanically operating a series of distinctive wall covering samples selectively into and out of view.

Other objects and advantages will hereinafter appear.'

Inthe drawings forming part of thi specification,

Figure 1 is a plan view of a device embodying features of the invention;

Figure 2 is a view in front elevation of the device of Figure 1;

Figure 3 15a fragmentary view in side elevation showing the rear end of the device of Figure 1;

Figure 4. is a view on a reduced scale illustrating the use of an album of samples for repre- 2 senting the end wall of a room; and

Figure 5 is a plan view of a modified embodiment of the device of Figure 1 illustrating means for selectively operating Side and end wall covering samples into and out of view.

In the device of Figures 1 to 4 provision is made of a baseboard frame 1 comprising baseboard members 2, 3 and 4 secured to one another to represent the baseboard for three connected sides of a room. A floor 5 is connected to the lower faces of the baseboard members 2, 3 and 4. The floor 5 presents a smooth surface across which floor covering samples 6 may :be. slid into and out of place. The baseboard members 2, 3 and 4 have secured to them, respectively, upstanding walls l, 8 and 9.

Miniature pieces of furniture or fixture are provided for giving the room an appearance of realism, these pieces comprising a center table 10, a sink 1 l, a gas range l2, a refrigerator 13, t

a side table M and chairs l5, and Hi. The pieces selected for illustration representfurnishing of a modern kitchen and are, of course, to be regarded as purely illustrative.

The fu nitu e is all supported from the baseboard frame at ashort distance above the floor 5 suflicient to permit selectedfioor cover panels 6 to be slipped into place and withdrawn without disturbing the furniture in any way. The sink ll, gas range I 2, and refrigerator 13 may be nailed or screwed directly to the baseboard frame. The table Ill is supported by metallic rods 11, I8 and I9, each driven into the baseboard andeach provided with a hook or ring at its free end for embracing a leg of the table 10. 1

The table It and the chairs l5 and it are each supported from the baseboard by two legs only. Each supported leg is received in a bracket 20 which is nailed or screwed to the baseboard and which is formed at its freeend with a leg-receivingsocket. The bracket 20 may be a sheet metal stamping having its end curled around to embrace a leg of the piece of furniture which it is designed to support, and an ear 2] bent inward to form a base for the socket thus provided. The

lower extremities of all of the furniture pieces are desirably supported substantially in a common plane. i

The side walls 1 and ,9 are adapted to provide lateral support for side wall sample panels 22 and 23.. These sample panelscan be put in place and withdrawn very readily. The panels set against the side wall 7 can be inserted comfortably between that sidewall, on the one hand, and the refrigerator l3 and sink II on the other. Similarly, the panels set against the side wall 9 may be very readily inserted between that wall and the gas range I 2. All of the side wallpanels rest on their lower edges upon the baseboard. The side walls I and 9 do not touch the end wall 8, but are spaced from such end wall. This permits sample panels 24 of wall coverings for the end wall to be inserted and withdrawn, which are longer than the end wall.

The device i used in some instances for the selling of floor coverings such. as linoleum and affords the prospective purchaser an opportunity to compare various linoleum samples with the actual wall finish. of his room. In other instances, the device will be used for the selling of wall paper or paint and may be used to afford the prospective purchaser an opportunity of comparing various contemplated wallcoverings with a floor covering corresponding substantially, or at least. as to color combinations, with the floor covering of his own room. In still other instances, the question of wall covering and floor covering may both be open, and the. device is then used for exhibiting both floor coverings. and wall overi gs in a ni s i tions with one .will, of course, be alike.

another to enable the customer to make appropriate and harmonious selections of both coverings.

The side and end wall coverings of the room Instead of using separate sample pieces for each of the three walls, therefore, a sample of each kind of covering can be made up of a plurality of panels hingedly connected and of proper dimensions to fit the three walls 1, 8 and 9. Such a sample can be folded to rectangular form and inserted in place in the device.

Where separate sample panels are utilized as illustrated in Figure 1, a practical and convenient way of assembling and exhibiting the end wall samples may be as illustrated in Figure 4. Here a sample collection 25 is made up, each sample including an index tab 26. A pivot ear 21 on the rear wall 8a receives a bolt or post 28 upon which a collection of panels is mounted with capacity for relative pivotal movement of the individual panels. The panels are desirably held to the pivot bolt by means of a nut, not shown, threaded on the bolt so that samples can be readily removed from the exhibiting device and replaced as desired.

The panels extend through the openings between the side walls la. and 9a, on the one hand, and the side wall 8a on the other. A desired sample is identified by its index tab 26 and all a In the embodiment of Figure 5 the baseboard frame, the floor and the side walls may all be the same as illustrated in Figure 1. Corresponding reference numerals have therefore, been applied to the corresponding parts with the subscript (1. added in each instance. The furniture may also be present as in Figure l, but it has not been illustrated.

In the Figure 5 embodiment, brackets 29 are mounted upon opposite ends of the side wall 1a for supporting a reelable web 30 made up of distinctive side wall covering samples. Each bracket 29 supports a spool 3| for reeling and unreeling the web 30. Each bracket also supports a guide roller 32. The guide rollers 32 are both substantially tangent to the side wall surface of the room. The web 30 may be reeled from either of the spools 3| onto the other one, the reels constituting an efficient and practical means for quickly bringing selected sample panels into position for exhibition.

Similar brackets 29, spools 31 and guide.rolls 32 are provided for carrying similar reels 3| in association with the back wall 812, and with the side Wall 9b. The reel holders may be of any suitable and well known construction for facilitating the rapid removal of one set of samples and the replacement of it by another.

It will be understood that the floor and side wall portions of the structure which simulates the room and the baseboard may all be formed as a single piece of cast metal for simplicity and cheapness of manufacture. The invention is moreover directed to miniature exhibits of the type that may be placed in convenient position on a table or stand, or in a show window.

1. A device for the realistic exhibition of flooror wall coverings comprising, in combination, a miniature room-like structure for simulating a room, including a bottom wall and a plurality of side walls, a baseboard running part way around the bottom wall, and miniature furniture supported exclusively from the baseboard and spaced from the bottom wall and the side walls sufficiently to permit different sample panels of floor and wall coverings to be inserted in place and withdrawn without disturbing the furniture.

2. A device for the realistic exhibition of floor coverings comprising, in combination, a miniature room-like structure in simulation of a room and including a floor portion and a plurality of side wall portions, and miniature furniture supported completely from side wall portions and spaced from the floor portion sufiiciently to permit different sample panels of floor coverings to be inserted in place and withdrawn without disturb-ing the furniture, the distance of the furniture from an inserted panel being substantially imperceptible.

3. A device for the realistic exhibition of floor coverings comprising, in combination, a miniature room-like structure in simulation of a room and including a floor portion and a plurality of side wall portions, miniature furniture simulating the furniture of the room and means supporting the furniture independently of the floor portion and at a short, substantially imperceptible distance therefrom.

4. A device for use in presenting a realistic exhibition of floor and wall coverings comprising, in combination, a miniature hollow frame simulating of the baseboard of a room, miniature furniture simulating the furniture of the room, and means supporting the furniture completely from the baseboard frame with the lower extremities of the furniture substantially in a common plane.

5. A device for use in presenting a realistic exhibition of floor and wall coverings comprising, in combination, a miniature hollow frame simulating the baseboard of a room, miniature furniture simulating the furniture of the room, means supporting the furniture completely from the baseboard frame with the lower extremities of the furniture substantially in a common plane, and means disposed around the baseboard frame for removably supporting side and end wall panels.

6. A device for use in presenting a realistic exhibition of floor and Wall coverings comprising, in combination, a miniature hollow frame simulating the baseboard of a room, miniature furniture simulating the furniture of the room, means supporting the furniture completely from the baseboard frame with the lower extremities of the furniture substantially in ;a common plane, and means disposed around the baseboard frame for removably supporting side end wall panels, comprising side wall panel retaining means and end wall panel retaining means, said side wall panel retaining means being spaced from the end wall panel retaining means.

'7. A device for use in presenting a realistic exhibition in miniature of wall coverings comprising, in combination, side wall panel supporting means, end wall panel supporting means spaced from the adjacent ends of the side wall panel supporting means, and a collection of wall covering panels adapted to be set in the space between the side wall panel supporting means and the end wall panel supporting means, and means pivotally connecting said panels to one another for movement in the planes of their bodies.

8. A device for presenting a realistic exhibition of floor and wall coverings comprising means for simulating the floor and a plurality of connected walls of a miniature room, said wall simulating means including for at least one of the room surfaces a reelable web comprising a series of distinctive surface simulating samples, each large enough to completely represent one of the visible surfaces of the miniature room, a pair of reels for paying out and taking up the web to operate the samples selectively into and 20 bination, means simulating in miniature the floor Q5 of a room, and a series of connected, distinctive wall panels each large enough to represent a wall covering of the miniature room, said panels being operable selectively into and out of position, along the sides of and at right angles to the floor, appropriate to represent a Wall surface of the room.

10. A device representing a realistic exhibition of floor and wall coverings comprising, in combination, means for simulating in miniature the floor of a room, and means for operating and guiding Wall covering samples selectively into position at right angles to said floor to represent simultaneously a plurality of the wall surfaces for the room.

11. A device for presenting a realistic exhibition of floor coverings comprising, in combination, means for simulating in miniature the baseboard of a plurality of walls of a room, miniature furniture representing furnishings of the room, means supporting the furniture exclusively from the baseboard to facilitate the employment of selected floor coverings without disturbing "the furniture, and means for guiding wall covering samples selectively into place in the vertical planes of the baseboard.

JAMES R. CONNOR. 

